


A Flower That Will Never Wither

by FayeWildwood



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Anxious Gavin Reed, Chloé's backstory, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900 are Siblings, Deviant Upgraded Connor | RK900, Elijah Kamski & Gavin Reed are Siblings, Gavin Reed Backstory, Gavin Reed Redemption, Gavin Reed is actually really smart, Gavin Reed-centric, Gavin and Elijah are twins and secretly close, Gavin says Fuck A LOT, Gay Disaster Gavin Reed, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Marc 1 Chloe, NO RAPE is actually in the story, Nines because I love it so much, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sort Of, That's where the non/con rape comes in, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has a Different Name, i don't know how to tag, no beta we die like men, only referenced as past events
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 13:46:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15950594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FayeWildwood/pseuds/FayeWildwood
Summary: Gavin had always done a great job at keeping his past exactly where it belonged, locked in a box and thrown in the deepest darkest hole he could find. He didn't dare let it define him, didn't let it show, didn't let anyone dig deep enough or get close enough to discover it. He didn't need the pitiful looks or the 'I'm sorry's' that came with knowing. He couldn't stand people tip-toeing around him. And he was doing a damn good job of keeping it a secret too.Until someone tries to kill his brother and everything gets flipped to shit.This is going to be both a get-together story for Gavin and Nines, while also being very Elijah-Gavin centric as well. It's basically all Gavin-centric.





	1. Sunrise 6:43

**Author's Note:**

> I absolutely love the idea that Gavin and Kamski are twins, so I'm running with it. I also took a LOT of liberties with their backstory and with Chloe, because I love her so much and she deserves some interesting story to go with her.  
> Also a note, the Rape/Noncon tags are for things that happened in Gavin's past. They will be referenced and talked about, but I do not plan on doing any flashbacks or detailed scenes about it. IF that changes, I will put a big warning in the beginning of said chapter.  
> Also warning, Fuck is my favorite cuss word ever and Gavin is going to use it a lot. So yay.  
> Thanks for reading!

"You ever get that feeling that something bad is gonna happen?"  
"You are literally standing over a dead body, detective. I believe it has already happened."  
Gavin rolled his eyes and looked up at the android beside him. "Obviously, dipshit. No I mean like- you wake up in the morning and just all day theres this feeling in your gut that- I dont know, a fucking tsunami is going to hit or your car is gonna slide or something. And then all day you're fucking on edge." He stood, handing off his tablet to Chris who'd walked up to them. "It's an overdose, have the details sent to us after the lab gets ahold of him."  
"There have been cases in history where humans have been able to predict natural disasters," Nines piped up as they turned to leave the crime scene. "However in this case, I believe we can probably chalk it up to lack of sleep and too much coffee making you paranoid, detective."  
Gavin snorted and flipped the android off, leading him to his car and tugging his coat closer around him. Gavin was sure though. Something dangerous and painful was churning in his stomach, like a shadow looming behind him at night. It made him more jittery than usual and he couldn't stop himself from fiddling with the sleeves of his old coat. "Lunch," he grumbled suddenly, needing something to get his mind off of whatever the fuck it was on. He turned pale green eyes to Nines' blue ones with a raised brow. "That truck near the precinct has that blue shit you drink now, and I'm fuckin' starving my ass off. Lets take an early lunch. Besides, I need a fuckin' coffee."  
"Might I point out, detective, that it is only eleven am and this will be your fifth cup of the day," Nines chimed but followed anyway, ducking his unfairly talk body into Gavin's auto car.  
The detective rolled his eyes at the nagging, lit his sixth cigarette of the day and flipped the droid off. "You may, and I may choose to fuckin' ignore it."  
\--   
In hindsight Gavin should have kept his fuckin' mouth shut. He was never really superstitious, but every cop knew not to fucking jinx it when it came to a bad feeling. Never say it out loud, never question it, because its like giving the universe fucking permission.   
And now his phone was ringing.  
Which in and of itself is not an unusual occurrence. Hes a cop for fuck's sake, he gets calls all the time. But the number on his screen was a familiar one, even if it wasn't programmed in and it made his heart race and his lungs seize up in worry because they never called, not unless it was an emergency and-  
"Detective? Your stress levels have risen significantly. Would you like me to answer the call instead?"  
They were in the break room, Anderson and his pet across from them, Tina and Chris beside them. Normally Gavin would scream at the android for broadcasting his stress in front of everyone else, but-  
Answer the call, fuck...  
With fumbling fingers, Gavin answered it, barely managing to keep the old phone up to his ear. "Hello?"  
He ignored the crack in his voice as something gasped over the line. "Gavin?"  
"Chlo? Shit, are you alright?" When she didn't answer, Gavin shoved himself to his feet, searching his huge coat for his keys. The others were starting to stand too, worried expressions on their faces. "Chloe!"  
"There's blood on my dress," she whispered over the line and Gavin knew at least the androids heard it because their LEDs lit up like a red fucking beacon. Gavin felt hus joints lock up, tensing so hard that his keys dug into his palm.   
"Blood? Chloe, who's blood?" He questioned, absently letting Nines pry his fingers apart and take the keys from him. "Chloe, just- fuck, pay attention for me okay? I need you to focus, can you do that? Can you tell me what color blood is it? Is it red or blue?" He almost didn't want to know the answer. He wasn't sure his heart would be able to take it.  
"I- I think it's both," she answered. Gavin could hear Anderson already yelling out orders, hear the precinct jump into action. He needed to move, needed to- needed to get down there, needed to fucking do something. "I stopped him. I made him go away but- but Elijah isn't waking up..."  
Pain ricocheted through Gavins chest and he barely registered the frantic voice of his partner calling to him. His fingers clutched the phone so tight he was afraid it might crack and he struggled to breathe for a solid minute. "I-is he breathing? Chloe, is he breathing?"  
"Yes," she answered and it was like a huge fucking weight was lifted off his shoulders and he slumped. "Shit, okay. Were on our way-" as he spoke, he herded Nines and the others towards the garage where their cars were parked. "Just- keep him breathing okay? Who was it? Did you get an id?"  
Gavin didn't argue when Nines hopped into the drivers seat, switching from auto to manual as Gavin typed in an address that made the androids LED flicker yellow and his brows furrow. He linked it to the rest of the squad cars and grabbed at the oh shit handle when Nines peeled out.  
"The sun was supposed to come up at 6:43 this morning," Chloe answered and Gavin cursed himself for not being able to decifer the marc 1's riddles.   
"Shit Chloe, i dont know what that means. Hold on- I'm putting you on speaker okay? My partner is here."  
He slotted the phone into the mount on the dash and pressed the speaker button, flinching when Chloe's artificial breathing cut through the sound of the sirens.  
"Hello Chloe," his partner said calmly, never taking his eyes from the road. Silently, Gavin was super fucking glad that at least one of them was level headed. "I am RK900, you may call me Nines if you like."  
"Connor's brother," Chloe said a bit dreamily.  
Nines paused for only a second before answering. "His younger one, yes. Can you tell me what is happening right now? Are you able to run a diagnostic on the victim?"  
"Elijah," Gavin interrupted sharply, glaring at the android. Part of him scolded himself for snapping when the android couldn't have known since Gavin didn't tell him, but the other part... The one panicking and struggling to focus couldn't bare to hear him be called a victim.  
"Apologies. Chloe, can you run a diagnostic on Elijah?"  
There was a long silence, one where Gavin couldn't help but fidget, fingers clenching and loosening around the handle on the roof of the car's interior. "The sun was supposed to rise at 6:43 this morning... But its still so dark," the other android muttered again.  
Nines LED spun yellow and his head tilted in a way that was almost cute but more annoying. "Her optical units aren't functional," he informed a waiting Gavin, taking a sharp turn onto the isolated road that led to Elijah's weird batcave. "Chloe, can you run a self-diagnostic? It would be helpful to know how you are damaged."  
"Elijah hit his head," she said instead. "He won't wake up and he hit his head. Gavin will be sad if he doesn't wake up."  
The detective struggled to fight back the sharp prickling behind his eyes, flinching hard when Nines put a hand on his knee, but instead of pulling away, he simply took it with his free hand and squeezed as hard as he could.  
Years ago he might have shot the toaster for even trying to touch him. And sure, he wouldn't really call them friends at this point, but he trusted the android, liked him even... Though he'd never admit it. His presence was a welcome calm, a welcome distraction. "Shes the first," Gavin said quietly, not trusting his voice to be any louder. "Lijah was so fucking taken with her... He never updated her, never tried to fix her. Her head's all fucked up, she can't communicate like normal people, but he never fixed her."  
He didn't know why he was telling Nines this, didn't know if it was important, but he had to say something. Had to do something...  
"We are pulling in now, Chloe, can you let us in?" Nines questioned.  
She didn't answer but Gavin shook his head. "No point, I'm programmed in."  
Gavin didn't even wait for the car to stop before launching out of it. Five more squad cars and Anderson's beat up shit pile skidded in behind them but he didn't wait for them. His gun was drawn instantly, eyes frantically searching the outside of the house for any sign of what he might find inside, but he saw nothing. He all but slammed his hand down on the scanner at the front door, breathing a sigh of relief when it slid open for him.  
He kind of wished he didn't even open it.  
The front room was a fucking massacre. There was blue blood dripping from the walls, three Chloe's laying across the floor, their lifeless eyes staring at him and he stumbled backwards. He barely acknowledged the solid hands that gripped his arms from behind or the chest that he bumped into. He could just barely hear Hank's whispered 'holy shit'.  
"Elijah!" Gavin screamed, ripping himself from his partner's hold and launching himself through the room. He didn't even try to avoid the evidence, knowing he was fucking it all up but he just didn't care. The bedroom door was already wide open and Gavin sprinted towards it, his heart plummeting at the sight within.  
It was almost peaceful if it weren't for all the blood. Chloe sat on the massive red and black bed, straight up and prim as ever. Her hair had fallen from its normal style and her eyes were dead as they stared off into the distance, her head tilted sideways almost as if she was listening for something. Blue blood oozed from cuts on her arms and neck, defensive wounds the cop in him noticed. And they weren't healing as they should have been. Elijah lay on the bed in front of her, his head in her lap and completely motionless. He was- thankfully- clothed in a robe and some pants, but it did little to cover the bruises and blood that covered the billionaire's body.  
Gavin skidded to the side of the bed, crawling over it to press his fingers against the man's throat, breathing a sigh of relief when he felt a pulse, a strong one at that.  
"He won't wake up."  
The detective jumped, glancing up to see Chloe staring in his direction, but not quite at him. "Its okay, Chlo," he told her, taking the hand that had been petting Elijah's hair in his own. She was cold, too cold for his liking. "The police are here. Were going to get you all fixed up okay? My partner here is going to help you outside and then I'm going to take a look at you, yeah?" Nines didn't hesitate to round the bed, taking the Chloe's hand from his own and Gavin could see the paramedics being ushered into the room.   
"I cant leave him! No- he- I have to be here when he wakes up- I-"  
"I assure you Mr. Kamski is in capable hands," Nines responded, patting her hand gently.  
"Detective," a paramedic interrupted, looking at Gavin. "You know Mr. Kamski?"  
Gavin watched as the paramedic's loaded the billionaire onto a hover gurney, nodding quietly and knowing full well that the others in the hallway could hear him when he spoke.  
"Yeah, he's my brother."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin fixes up Chloe and answers some pressing questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please remember that my backstory for Elijah, Gavin and Chloe is non-cannon. :)  
> Thanks guys!  
> (Also future warning, the next chapter will have a lot of talk about child abuse and rape, also some panic attacks will happen.)

An hour later found Gavin sitting in an empty interrogation room with Nines beside him and Chloe in front of him on the table. His partner had offered to drive him to the hospital to wait with Elijah, but the detective had just shaken his head and told him  _"I can't help him there and I sure as hell ain't sitting in a fucking waiting room to figure out if he's dead or not so- no... fuck, let's just... Just get us back to the precinct. I can fix Chloe there, I have some shit in my car to do it. I'm not letting some just out of medschool kid get his grubby little hands on her. Maybe I can get an ID from her memory banks or some shit."_

Now he had a basic tool kit Elijah had gifted him years ago spread out on one side of the table, and his brother's android sitting on the other half. She was still covered in blood, but they'd shed her of her dress and given her some DPD pants and a tank, and done her hair up out of the way so that Gavin could work.

He was grateful that Nines had convinced Fowler to even let him fix the android up, and that they'd all left him alone for the time being considering the fact that he knew he should be being questioned right now. Instead he had the panel under Chloe's LED pried off and his fingers shoved between wires and chips and circuit boards, all the while trying- and failing- to ignore Nines' blinking LED.

"Ask your fuckin' question Nines before that damn thing gives me a stroke," he grumbled around the wire between his lips. 

There was a brief pause, one where Nines handed him a pair of thin nosed pliers without him asking, before he spoke. "I wish to know how you know so much about fixing a marc I RT600 when you have no known background in engineering, robotics, or medicine. However, I hesitate to ask because I know you dislike speaking of your past or your life outside of work and I do not wish to stress you even further during this."

Gavin didn't answer at first. It wasn't necessarily that he didn't want to- okay he definitely didn't. Nines was right, he  _hated_  talking about his past, but he knew he'd have to when Hank barged in and demanded answers. Answers he'd have to give. Something unsure in his stomach told him though that Nines deserved those answers first. After all they'd been through, he deserved that much at least. So he sighed as he tilted Chloe's head a little more to adjust a cable he had running from his computer to the back of her neck. It was something to stall for time, but Nines was patient.

"Chloe isn't an RT600," he replied, hooking another cable up to the memory core under her LED. "I mean, she sort of is. The RT line was based off her original design, but  _this_  Chloe isn't an RT600. I told you she's the original."

"The original Chloe," Nines replied. "Yes, I remember."

Gavin shook his head though, typing in a stream of code on the computer to try and manually break through the wall that was blocking Chloe's memory banks. "No you don't- I mean, she's  _the_  original. She's the first android. It's why Elijah doesn't fix her or let her out or show her off. She's old and outdated, but she's- I don't know, she's fuckin' special or whatever."

"I'm afraid I don't understand what that has to do with why you know how to fix her, detective."

The man rolled his eyes and glanced up at Chloe. "It's because I created her."

The silence was deafening and Gavin wondered if he listened hard enough if he could  _hear_  Nines' LED whirring yellow as he processed the information, as he scanned for some sign of a lie, as he searched for any sign in the history books that proved his words. He wouldn't find any, Gavin knew. It'd been such a well kept secret, locked down in that box he tried to never open. 

The key long since thrown away.

"I don't understand."

"Yeah," Gavin mumbled in response, shrugging his shoulders. He shifted his chair to her other side, sliding open a panel on her other temple to give him an excuse to check her optical systems while keeping an eye on his partner. "It wasn't that big of a deal. I didn't do much, just built her. I was big with cars and computers and shit back then. I knew my way around mechanics and I was fuckin' good at it. Problem was, I was good at building a computer, but I couldn't program for shit. That's where Elijah came in. The Android shit was all his idea and I got sucked in 'cause we were so close and shit. It was an excuse to hang out with him, an excuse to get away from-"  _nope, cut that line of thinking off real fuckin' fast._  "Anyway- we designed her together but Elijah got sent to some fancy smart people summer camp one year and I was fucking bored as shit at home by myself. So- I stole a bunch of fancy computers and snuck into this plant that made those really high end prosthetic and shit? And I made Elijah an android for when he came back." 

There wasn't much that shocked Nines. Gavin had been trying for the past two years to try and scare the guy, to sneak up on him, to surprise him, but no dice. He'd never managed to even get a jump out of him. And now the android was staring at him like he was the fucking sun in the middle of the night.

" _You_  built the first Chloe?"

The sheer awe in his normally robotic voice made Gavin uncomfortable and he distracted himself with retrieving one of Chloe's backup drives from within her optical recording storage. "It's not that big of a deal-"

"Not that big of a deal?" Nines parroted, blinking at him. "You created the first ever functioning android. We are all here because of you."

"Fuck that," Gavin sneered, shaking his head. "Elijah would have done it eventually with or without me. He's a determined prick that way. I just- fuck I don't know. I wanted to surprise him or whatever. And man you should have seen him," the memory was one of the few good ones he had of when he was younger. The bright smile on his brother's face, the cheerful tears. "You'd think I was the fuckin' pope the way he looked at me that day. But I just gave her a body, Elijah gave her the brains, the soul. I didn't do anything fuckin' special.  _Anyway_ , fuckin' point is that I built her, that's how I know how to fix her. Her systems are completely different from the tech that's out there now. Elijah built the others based on her core design, but more advanced and sustainable. She's got all kinds of shit wrong with her. Elijah tried pumping too big of an AI into her mainframe and I didn't build it to sustain so much information at once. Miscalculations are easy in the early stages because we didn't know how much was needed."

"She got overloaded," Nines continued for him and Gavin found himself nodding.

"It's why she has a hard time communicating like normal people, why she isn't really... all there, ya know? Sometimes she's the picture of humanity, you wouldn't be able to tell her from any other kind of human, and sometimes she's the most robotic thing you've met. More so than even a computer." Gavin sighed, pulling back slightly to glance at his creation. She was beautiful, even when she was in stasis. Sometimes when he looked at her, he imagined this must be what Hank felt like when he first saw his son. Or what any parent felt like really. "No matter how much we tried to fix her, we couldn't get it right. So Elijah started fresh and created the RT100 and all the way up to the RT600. Six was the first one to pass the Turing test. Didn't feel right to get rid of this one though." He plugged the backup drive into the computer and watched the loading bar pop up. When Nines didn't reply, Gavin glanced up to see his LED solid and yellow. He frowned. "What?"

The android opened his mouth, but paused before speaking, his brow furrowed and head tilted in that annoying and cute way that he picked up from Connor. "Forgive me, I just- I was under the impression that you hated androids."

_Oh._

_"_ I never hated- it wasn't the androids I hated," Gavin growled, gesturing to Chloe with a dissatisfied frown. "I've never hated Chloe for what she was. She's always been a person to me. What I hated was what they fuckin' did with them- with  _you_ , after Elijah published his fucking papers and got his grants and went fucking  _public_. They put them in assembly lines, made thousands of them, didn't give them fuckin' personalities. They were just robots, just machines, nothing more than glorified toasters at that point. They weren't-" Gavin cut himself off as his voice rose, squeezing his eyes shut as he forced himself to breathe. "Elijah left Cyberlife because he couldn't stand what they did with his creations. It's why he never let them have Chloe, or her original model and plans. He took the Chloe model with him when he left and all production of her stopped." The computer beside him beeped, pulling them from the past and back into the interrogation room where the detective frowned at the words across the screen. "Her memory core is unaccessable from manual access? How the fuck is that even possible? I should be able to manually get into any of her systems when plugged in."

"Perhaps whoever broke in messed with her systems as well," Nines suggested, shifting around so he could stare at the computer.

"Whatever they fuckin' did is blocking me out from accessing it, and I don't have Elijah's fucking genius for programming to try and break through his millions of firewalls to see what she recorded."

Nines hummed and narrowed his blue eyes at the words, as if glaring at them might intimidate the computer into solving the problem for them. "Perhaps if I interfaced with her I could tear down the firewalls myself. Being Cyberlife's most advanced model, I have malware within my programming that is meant to dig into deviant software and find answers. I am unaware if it would work with damaged or altered memory files, but it is a possibility."

"That's a big fucking if," Gavin grumbled, shaking his head. "I don't want to send you in there only for you to get stuck in her crazy."

Nines slid his eyes over to Gavin in a deadpan look, voice sarcastic when he spoke. "My own software is extremely stable, detective. I find it highly unlikely that I will, as you say, get 'stuck in her crazy'."

Gavin tapped his fingers on the table, relishing in the soft clicking sound they made against the metal. After a moment he sighed and typed a command into the computer, unplugged the backup drive and slid it back into place in her temple. The panel slid shut automatically when he pulled away and Chloe's eyes blinked open and glanced down at them, her sight being the first thing he'd repaired upon returning to the DPD. "Hello Gavin."

"Hey Chlo," he replied with a soft smile. "Do me a favor, yeah? Can you try and access your memory banks? There was an incident between 11:12 and 11:45 am that we need a visual or audio recording of."

The android got a bit of a far off look in her eyes as she did what he asked, a soft frown marring her features. "I- there isn't-" she glanced back down at him and bit her lip gently. "I can't." 

"Yeah, thought so..." he breathed, waving a hand towards Nines. "Alright, listen. Nines here is going to try and access it through interface okay?" Chloe's LED flickered red for a moment and Gavin took her hands in his. "Hey, hey, look at me," he waited until she did before continuing. "Nothing bad's going to happen okay? I'm going to be here the whole fucking time and I'll pull him out the second I see something wrong. But Lijah's been hurt bad and we need to figure out what happened, okay? This is the only way we can do it without him here to dig through your programming."

Chloe hesitated, her eyes trailing over to Nines before nodding. "Alright."

The rest was all up to his android-  _the_  android, not his... Nines was definitely not- ah whatever.

He watched as the synthetic skin on Nines' arm faded away to white plastic the moment he grabbed Chloe's hand, and her own followed suit, though a tad slower. Her plastic underneath wasn't nearly as pretty as Nines', but it'd been a while since Gavin had seen it. It shocked him a bit how grey and old it looked compared to his partner's. Nines however didn't bat an eye before interfacing, their LED's both sliding into a spinning yellow at once.

And Gavin just had to fucking sit there and wait because he couldn't fuckin' see what was happening.

"You were right," Nines said quietly, eyes narrowing a bit though Gavin knew he couldn't see the interrogation room around them, "her firewalls are... intense and her memory core is severely damaged. There is no visual data left between the times we need, but there are... snippets of audio."

"He was quiet," Chloe whispered, fingers tightening on Nines' forearm and Gavin shot up from his slouch to pay closer attention. "He shouldn't have been able to get in, but he did- he did..."

Nines hummed, turning her hand a bit so his was on top. "There is one clear audio file here. I cannot seem to access it myself, but I can push it through to Chloe's vocal processors if you like?"

There was a soft click and Gavin glanced up to see Anderson and Connor opening the door, curious and tired eyes focusing on Nines and Chloe instantly. Gavin waved for them to be quiet before turning back to his partner. "Yeah, push it through. Connor is here, he can run it through the database and see if we get a match." It wasn't a question, but Connor nodded anyway, stepping further into the room.

"Very well."

Their LED's spun again before Chloe's settled on a solid red, mouth opening to speak.

"Still so beautiful..." she breathed in a voice much deeper than her own. "A flower that will never wither."

The voice that came out though wasn't one he'd expected to ever hear again. It sent a shock through his chest so hard that he stumbled back from the imaginary impact, his chair clattering loudly to the ground. Nines and Connor were on him in a second, worried eyes- blue and brown- stared at him as they spoke but he couldn't process what they were saying.

"He-He's back. He can't be- she couldn't have- it's not possible-"

"Who Detective?" Connor pressed, but Nines put a hand on his shoulder to hold him back no doubt reading Gavin's stress levels off the fuckin' charts. Briefly he wondered if he'd be self destructing right now if he'd been an android.

The answer stuck in his throat, lodged behind years and years of hiding and pain and denial. They tasted like gasoline on his tongue, burned his throat and scorched his lungs as he gasped them out.

"My dad..."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lieutenant Anderson and Connor question Gavin and Chloe. Panic attacks ensue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so some warnings here. There are mentions of physical and emotional abuse in this chapter. It doesn't go into too much detail and the rape isn't actually mentioned yet. I pushed that back a few chapters to fit better into the plot. Also there are some panic attacks here so be aware of that.  
> I'm so glad everyone is enjoying this so much!  
> Thanks guys!

STRESS LEVELS EXCEEDING SAFE LIMITS

CURRENT LEVEL 78% RISING

 

"That's what Kamski said," Lieutenant Anderson said with a frown, sharing a look with Connor. Gavin's head shot up to look at the pair and the Lieutenant's brow crinkled. "Before the revolution, we went to go see him about Ra9 and he tried to get Connor to shoot a Chloe. He said she was a flower that would never whither. Started waxing philisophicals or some shit." The older man shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. "Honestly I wasn't payin' much attention, but he definitely said that."

Gavin was already shaking his head, though whether it was from the panic building up inside him or in denial, was unclear. "No- no he doesn't know that. He was never- I made sure-" he choked. "I made sure he didn't know that."

STRESS LEVEL RISING 89%

"Gavin," RK900- Nines- said softly, stepping so close to the detective that his view of the rest of the room was blocked. Gavin's hands flew up to press against his chest- though to push him away or just have something stable to hold onto, he wasn't sure. "Your stress levels are too high. You need to breathe." Breathing was not something androids needed to do, but he did so anyway, hoping the calm, rhythmic motion might promote his partner to mimic it. He stepped even closer, something the detective would not have allowed two years ago, but now he dropped his head onto Nines' chest and forced himself to breathe through the panic. "This does not need to be discussed right now," he assured his partner, knowing that it actually did need to be discussed as soon as possible if there was hope in catching Mr. Kamski's attacker before he tried again, but needing something reassuring to calm Gavin down.

"No," the detective stuttered out, fingers clenching and unclenching around Nines' jacket. "I just- I just need a second to get the fuck over myself. It's just-" He paused to take a few breaths before continuing. "Haven't fuckin' heard that voice since I was a kid... I... I wasn't expecting it."

Hank and Connor started to make their way over to the table that Chloe sat on, the RK800 and the original sharing a soft smile with each other. "Look Reed, I know you don't like talkin' bout your past and shit, but with it linked to Kamski's attack..."

He let the sentence hang but Gavin didn't need him to finish, he just nodded and pushed his hands against Nines' chest once more.

STRESS LEVELS AT SAFE LIMITS

CURRENT LEVEL 61% DECREASING

"I fucking know," he breathed as Nines let himself be pushed back a few steps. The android kept close until he was sure his partner wouldn't collapse, then returned to his previous seat and Gavin returned to his as well. None of them mentioned anything when Chloe took his hand and gave him a reassuring smile.

"So the voice you heard," Lieutenant Anderson began, "it was definitely your father?"

Gavin nodded, but Connor had a frown on his face. "I have no one on record with the last name Reed being attached to your history, detective. Care to explain that?"

Gavin only shrugged. "My mom's maiden name was Reed, so when I was old enough, I changed it. Elijah kept his, figuring the fame and fortune he'd built up was enough to protect him." And I went into hiding, was left unsaid but none of them dwelt on it. "Our mom passed when we were nine, and the state left us with the old man."

"Richard Kamski," Connor filled in and Gavin nodded, though RK900 could see his fingers tighten around Chloe's. 

"He was... Abusive," the detective grumbled, scratching at the scar on his nose in a nervous tick. "Guy liked tossing you around just for the hell of it. He wasn't a drunk or anything, just a psychopath."

The lieutenant hummed and crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair. "Physically or emotionally abusive?"

Tension built in Gavin's shoulders and his stress levels bumped up a few degrees. "Both," he answered through gritted teeth. "I tried to keep Elijah away from it the best I could. Took most of it for him if he got in trouble. It was pretty easy to distract the bastard, he had an ego the size of the empire state." A shrug to feign nonchalance, but RK900 could see the lines creasing his face, could hear his heart beating, could sense how uncomfortable this conversation made his partner.

"So when'd you last talk to him?"

His lips pursed and his eyes trailed towards Chloe, a strange look of guilt on his face. "We were 16. Elijah just got back from some robotics camp and- fuck... I don't know, the old man saw Chloe and freaked out."

Lie.

RK900 and Connor both frowned, LEDs flickering yellow at the same time. It was easy for androids to tell when someone was lying, but why Gavin was lying, he couldn't say.

"Look, some shit went down that broke the camels back, okay?" The detective grumbled, anger and defense lacing his words. "Lijah had a mentor from camp and we ran away. Stayed with her for a while until we were old enough to be on our own. Lijah went to school and got all rich and famous, i joined the police academy the second I was old enough."

"That was the last time you had contact with your father?" Connor clarified.

"Yeah. Bastard never tried to find me, but I doubt he'd be able to anyway. I changed my name, registered my apartment under someone else... I do a damn good job of keeping my face out of the papers. I'm careful," he said. His fingers clenched and he heaved a sigh, running his free hand over his face. "I always worried about Elijah being in the spotlight..."

"You have three voicemails, Elijah," Chloe piped up, smiling down at Gavin with an innocent look, as if she didn't just randomly spout nonsense.

Gavin frowned up at her. "Not now, Chlo. Hes not here to listen to them."

"Actually," Connor gestured to the female android, "it might be beneficial for us to ask her some questions as well. She is a witness after all, and you have repaired her."

"I guess," the detective shrugged. "Be my guest, but this Chloe... She's not all there in the head. Half the time she just spouts random shit. I don't know how much you'd actually be able to get out of her. Here," Gavin shifted, standing from his seat and using the hand she held onto to help Chloe down from the table. "Sit down, Connor's gonna ask you some stuff about Elijah, okay?"

She nodded, folding her hands primly in front of her as she faced the Lieutenant and android. "Chloe, from what I understood last time we visited Mr. Kamski, you and the others were his personal assistants yes?"

"Elijah cares for us, and we care for him," she replied simply.

"Does that include tending to his personal and work matters? You said he's got voicemails, do you keep track of that kind of thing?" Lieutenant Anderson asked.

Chloe's lips twitched into a frown before returning to her neutral expression. "The other Chloe's, they do. I am... Not reliable in those matters."

"Why not?" Anderson said.

"Chloe is the first android model," RK900 answered. "You were not present for our previous conversation, but this Chloe is the very first ever built. Because of this, the AI she is equipped with was too large a program for her basic components. In short," he paused, glancing at Anderson's confused expression, "she has problems with communication, as well as memory and basic commands I'm sure." 

From the corner of his eye, he could sense Gavin relax just a bit, no doubt glad that he hadn't told them about his own participation in her making. "So even if she did see somethin', we cant say whether its accurate or not. That's fuckin' great."

Connor's LED whirred yellow and his head tilted just so. "All the other Chloe's were destroyed," he said quietly, voice sympathetic and soft. "From first glace, it appears they were beaten to death, however we managed to determine that they were actually infected with a virus which shut down all of their core programs and rendered them unable to be reactivated. I am sorry."

A bright red warning came to life in Nines' vision, informing him of Gavin's stress levels skyrocketing.

"A virus?" He sneered, turning towards Nines and Chloe, a look of panic on his face. "Shit shit shit shit shit! You're waiting until now to tell me that? After- fuck!" The detective ran his hands through his hair and groaned. 

"What's your problem, she obviously wasn't affected-"

"That's not the point!" Gavin hissed, jabbing a finger in Nines' direction, the androids LED stuttering a moment in confusion. "The point is that she could be a carrier and Nines interfaced with her! Who fucking knows whats going to happen?"

"I assure you, detective that I would be aware-"

"Would you though? How the fuck would you know? We have no fucking clue how long it took them to be affected, no clue what it did to them," Gavin argued back. "And the only fucking person who could figure it out is lying in a hospital bed all by himself without me or his fucking precious Chloe there with him! So fucking forgive the shit out of me for being worried that this bastard is trying to kill everyone around me!"

The room was silent in the wake of his outburst, the only sound being Gavin's heavy breathing. RK900 waited until his stress levels lowered a bit before speaking. "Perhaps we take a break."

"Best idea I've heard so far," the Lieutenant groaned, standing slowly. He reached a hand out to pat Gavin's shoulder, a worried expression on his face. "Go see your brother, kid. Take Chloe with you. She's technically a witness, but Nines can tell us whatever you guys find out anything. We still got a shit ton of processing and paperwork to get through. So get through your own shit and well figure this out okay? Well figure it out."

They left the three alone in the room after that and RK900 watched his partner all but collapse into a chair, head dropping into his hands as he forced himself to breathe. "I thought we were free of this shit," he said quietly, and if RK900 had been human, he might not have heard him. "I thought we got away. I didn't- he was never supposed to find us. To get to us. Elijah was untouchable. You couldn't get away with trying to kill the most famous man in the world..."

"And he's not going to," the android stated surely. "We will find him. He is already messing up, and he will make more mistakes. He won't get away with this." Gavin's eyes slowly migrated to his, disbelief swimming in them. "He was unprepared for Chloe," he answered the silent question, gesturing to the girl beside them. "He did not intend to leave witnesses, and yet he did. His first mistake."

"But she isn't reliable-"

"Children are rarely reliable in cases and we still use them, yes?" Gavin's mouth snapped shut with an audible click and the android held out a hand to help him stand. "For now, we will visit Mr. Kamski and you may continue tinkering with Chloe. I will be there to keep you updated on the case as it progresses. But I do promise you, Gavin, we will find your father and he  _will_  be put to justice."

He tried to put as much finality into the statement as he could, as much promise and devotion as he could muster. It must have worked because Gavin blinked up at him, their bodies so close he wondered if the detective could hear his fans whirring.

"Yeah... Yeah alright... Can we get some fucking coffee first?"


	4. I told you so

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elijah wakes up. Sass is had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, it's been a while. I have no excuses, I just fell out of touch with this story and am the worst. Sorry! But I felt inspired to pick it back up again. So here you go! I make no promises on how often it's going to be updated, soooooo...... also this chapter was kind of short because i'm just getting back into it. Sorry.

It was two days before Elijah finally woke up. Gavin had barely left the room except to get coffee or go home for a power nap that Nines insisted upon him having. He tinkered with Chloe the whole time, fidgeting with her systems, fixing things that'd only be broken again in a few months, but it was calming on his nerves.

He couldn't stand seeing Elijah hooked up to so many machines. His hands were bandaged and his fingers wrapped in little splints to keep the broken bones together. His face was littered with bruises and they had a breathing tube up his nose that made a nasty hissing sound whenever it forced oxygen through his lungs. 

And his nose was broken.

Gavin had mused for a while that they'd have matching scars after this if it didn't heal well enough.

The detective was facing away from the bed on the second night, finger deep in the back of Chloe's skull. He knew he wouldn't be able to get anything from her about the virus or from her memory, not without Elijah, but damnit he was going to try.

"You cant-" a harsh voice coughed, jarring Gavin from his work and making him drop the pliers in his hand. He whipped around to see Elijah struggling to sit up. "You can't brute force your way into her programming," he croaked, the words drifting off into a groan.

"How the fuck'd you know what I was doing huh? And don't-" Gavin stood immediately, crossing the room to gently push Elijah back onto the bed. "Don't fucking get up you idiot. Just, hold on." He fumbled for the remote nearby and pushed a button on it, the bed slowly but surely leaning up into a slightly inclined seated position. Elijah sighed, his eyes still blinking rapidly as he took in his surroundings. "You're in the hospital," Gavin said because what the fuck else was he supposed to say? "Chloe called me."

"Chloe-"

"Right here, Elijah," the android in question said, sidling up to the other side of the bed and grabbing her creators hand gently in her own. Her head panel was still cracked open in the back, but she didn't seem to mind. 

The genius' shoulders slumped immediately upon seeing her and he took a slow, steady breath, eyes sliding over to Gavin's. "How long?"

"Bout two days," he answered with a shrug, pulling up his chair and sitting down. He wished suddenly that Nines was back with his coffee already. "You remember what happened?"

"I was asleep," Elijah began, lips pursing slowly as he looked at Chloe then back to Gavin. "My androids?"

"Chloe is the only one," Gavin said softly, knowing his brother actually cared for the other women. His brother nodded solemnly and squeezed the android's hand. "Obviously we didn't manage to get much out of Chloe. From what our Forensic Tech's could tell, he introduced some sort of self-destruct virus into their programming but since Chloe is so old and still runs on the old system, it didn't affect her the same way."

A frown tugged at the billionaire's lips and his eyes met Gavin's for only a second. "He?"

"We were actually hoping you could confirm that for us, Mr. Kamski." 

Gavin jumped slightly at the voice, but by now he was pretty used to Nines sneaking up on him. They both glanced over to the door where the android stood, still in his uniform and with a steaming cup of coffee in his hands. "Bless," Gavin breathed, making grabby hands at the man which resulted in an eye roll before the cup was handed over. Gavin slurped at the drink before Nines could warn him about the temperature, reveling in the scorching sensation that filled his chest. God, he was exhausted. "Ah- Lijah, this is Nines, Connor's brother," he introduced half heartedly, waving at his partner.

Elijah was watching them with this look in his eye- one Gavin knew too well and refused to entertain- but he nodded politely at the android. "An updated model, I presume. You're not quite as... soft, as Connor."

"You are correct," Nines said with a nod. "Mr. Kamski, we have managed to find out what happened to your androids as well as narrow down our suspect pool to one person. However we are interested in what you remember from the other night if you would mind recalling it for us."

"Since you're so polite," Elijah chuckled, shifting himself in the bed and patting the side of it for Chloe to sit down on. "Give me those things so I can fix this mess you made," he addressed his twin, waving a hand towards the dropped pliers. Gavin did as he asked and Elijah got to work reconnecting Chloe's systems that Gavin had dug his way into. Nines got the idea that both brothers liked having something to do with their hands and minds when discussing upsetting matters. "I'm afraid I don't remember much. The human mind, it's such a fragile thing. Nothing like the memory of an android. We cannot simply record and recall data like you can. It is... unfortunate-"

"Lijah-" Gavin warned with a roll of the eyes. "Why can't you ever just give a straight answer, you've always gotta wax poetry."

The programmer rolled his eyes but relented. "Of course. As I was saying, I do not remember much, unfortunately. I was sleeping when he came in. Chloe, this one here, woke me moments before anything happened." Elijah paused, fingers twitching with nerves and though he didn't look upset, Gavin knew his stress levels were relatively high. He reattached a few more wires before continuing. "I remember them doing something to her- he touched her LED for just a moment before she collapsed. It all happened rather quickly. I do recall trying to fight back. I am not as fragile as I might appear mind you, but he was large and it was dark, I could see very little." One hand raised to brush against the bruises marring his throat as he thought. "Chloe woke up though. Whatever he did, she fought through it. Ah, there," the panel slid closed again and the twin took a moment to rearrange Chloe's hair over her shoulder once more. He then wiggled his fingers at the tablet on the foot of the bed. "Now hand me that and I might be able to determine what kind of virus this is if it is lingering in her systems."

Gavin did as he was asked before leaning forward on his knees. "Did he say anything to you? Do you remember?"

Elijah frowned, bright blue eyes narrowing in thought. "His hands were around my throat," he murmured, fingers tapping across the screen blindly. "I do recall him saying something but I am unsure of what it was." He hummed as he glanced down at the screen, wirelessly connecting to the android next to him. "Go on Gavin," he said surely, not glancing up at his brother. "Tell me what it is you're dreading to say. I can hear it in your silence. And do not think I haven't noticed the fact that you have deliberately kept your suspect's name quiet. I do believe at this point I deserve to know who is threatening my life."

"It's not just you any more who's in danger, 'Lijah. At least, we don't think so-" Gavin forced, eyes trained on Chloe's blinking LED. "He might not know I'm here yet, but it's only a matter of time."

"You?" At that, his brother's eyes lifted and met his own, brow raising slightly in interest. "What have you got to do with it?"

Gavin took a deep breath, fiddling with the sleeve of his jacket as he thought about how to say it. After a moment, he glanced up at Nines instead, the android not needing words to know what he was asking. "We believe the suspect to be your father, Richard Kamski," Nines said carefully but surely. "Your Chloe's memory banks have been severely damaged, however we managed to pull a single audio file that Detective Reed confirmed was your father speaking. At the moment, he is our only lead in the case. We were hoping you would verify this information."

If Elijah was shocked at the truth, he didn't show it. But then again, Gavin was used to his brother locking up any sign of emotion or struggling to feel it at all. The doctors called it Antisocial Personality Disorder when they were kids. Gavin just figured he was born with too much emotion and Elijah wasn't born with enough. Still, the genius' fingers paused on the screen and there was a twitch to his lips as he contemplated the words. "Our father. A sound theory, detectives, however I have not seen nor spoken with our father since I was a teenager. What purpose would he have to come after me now? To come after both of us?"

"We don't know yet," Gavin sighed, running a hand over his face. "But it was definitely his voice that Chloe heard, I'd recognize it anywhere, and this time Amanda isn't here to help us."

His brother frowned and tapped his fingers across the tablet. Chloe's LED spun yellow at his side. "No, I suppose not, but we have managed to keep you sufficiently hidden, have we not? I am sure you will be fine, especially with an enhanced combat android at your side."

"The fuck is that supposed to mean," Gavin challenged, glaring at his brother and crossing his arms over his chest. It was a defensive position, and he knew it, but he didn't care. "First of all, Nines is my partner, not whatever it is you're drumming up in your crazy head. Second of all, you're talking as if you won't be staying with me for the rest of this investigation." Elijah glanced up at that, his eyebrows raised in question. "Yeah, bitch. I'm not just going to let you go back to that isolated death house at the lake. Not when we already know he can get in there. Fuck that, you're coming home with me. Even if he does know I'm still in Detroit, I've got my place under a different name and everything. There's no way he'll be able to find it. And even if he does, it'll take him a hell of a lot of digging to do so. It'll buy us time to track the bastard down."

"And if he tracks you to the detective's apartment," Nines chimed in, "you are both welcome at my home. I assure you it is most safe."

Gavin rolled his eyes. "I assure you it is most safe," he mocked, drawing a small, barely-there smile from the android. "My place is perfectly fine, thank you very much. Besides, I just assumed you'd be staying with us too." Nines raised an eyebrow, though in truth he had planned on doing so with the detective's permission. Gavin snorted at the expression. "You get all protective when someone comes after me. Remember the time Horace escaped custody? You practically stood guard at my door like a fucking guard dog. I had to basically drag you inside so you didn't frighten off poor Mrs. Brundal down the hall with all of your glaring."

"Horace Maclroy shot you twice," Nines frowned, head tilting slightly. "Forgive me for being wary of him."

"You got shot," Elijah interrupted, head snapping up in an unnatural display of shock. His blue eyes burned into Gavin's and the older of the two flinched away from it. "You didn't tell me you got shot."

Gavin shrugged, rubbing a finger over his nose. "It really wasn't that bad. I was only out of work for like, two weeks. Besides, I know how you get. You would have made a big fucking deal about it and demanded to pay the medical bills and find a surgeon worthy enough and blah blah blah. It really wasn't that big of a deal," he promised. "I barely even have a scar."

The genius sighed and tossed the tablet to his feet. "One day I fear you'll be dead and burried before I ever hear about it and on your tombstone will be the words, 'it wasn't that bad'."

"Yeah well," Gavin shrugged with a crooked grin, "you'll finally be able to say I told you so."


	5. Protection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback! Woowoo!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: There are mentions of physical and sexual abuse in this chapter! It's not super detailed or anything, but you can pick up on.
> 
> Also, I know it's been a while. Sorry.

Years ago...

"Okay you can't tell dad."

Elijah raised a cool eyebrow and his lips twitched, as if threatening to smile at the thought. "Well you have my attention. What is this surprise then, big brother?"

Gavin rolled his eyes and grabbed Eli's hand, tugging him towards their bedroom. He was careful to be quiet, not wanting to wake their father. Elijah had gotten back from camp early in the morning and since their father couldn't be trusted to do it, Gavin had been tasked on fetching him from the bus stop.  

The older twin was nervous. That much was obvious in the way his eyes shifted and he rubbed at the scar on his nose once he'd closed the door behind them. He bounced from foot to foot and sucked on his teeth.

"Gavin, dear," Eli muttered, cupping his brothers cheek in hand. "Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll love it. Now do tell me because the anticipation is killing me." It was, even if it didn't look like it. Elijah didn't lie, didn't mince his words. He didn't know how to. So if he said he was excited, then he was, even if he didn't appear to be. 

So Gavin nodded and positioned his brother in the center of the room and took a deep breath. 

"Okay, cover your eyes."

"Gavin-"

"I'm serious. Cover your eyes. I have to get it ready," he insisted.

Sighing dramatically, Elijah nodded and raised his hands to cover his eyes. He didn't peak. He wouldn't, not when Gavin was so nervous.

"It's not perfect," his twin mumbled as he tugged open the closet door and shoved the clothes aside. "It uh- needs a lot of work. Like a lot of fuckin' work. But I got the base of it done, you know? Figured we could uh- do the rest together." 

The android stood right where Gavin had left it. The sleek whitecasing glimmered in the dim light of the bedroom and the soft blue glow of the electronics underneath shown through. It definitely wasn't perfect. The pieces didn't quite match up perfectly and it moved a little too stiffly as it walked, following Gavin obediently into the room. He positioned it right in front of Elijah and fiddled a bit with its head and arms, trying to find a good way to pose it before just giving up. 

"Ah fuck it. Okay, just- just remember I'm used to computers, okay? You can open your eyes."

There were very few times Gavin had seen Elijah... Show any emotion. Very few, like he could count on one hand the times he'd seen his brother actually smile. Not smirk, but full blown grin. Gavin had grown to learn his ticks and traits. He knew the little eyebrow furrow meant Elijah was upset or focusing depending on if he tilted his head or not. He knew that a small twitch of lips meant he was smiling on the inside. But only ever with Gavin.

This was different though. Gavin had never seen this expression before. He didn't know what to do with it.

Elijah's eyes grew two times their normal size and his fingers twitched at his sides. Like they usually did when he wanted to tear something apart to see how it worked. He hesitated long enough for Gavin to start fidgeting with his sleeves, shifting on his feet again like he was getting ready to make a run for it. Then Elijah moved, stepping carefully towards the android before circling it, eyes taking in every possible detail.

"Well?" Gavin demanded.

"You built me an android."

It wasn't a question, but Gavin shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah well... I was bored and you were at that camp for programming. I figured you'd learn enough to want to get started so- she isn't programmed or anything." 

"She?"

"Yeah. Uh- well I just figured- I didn't- oh fuck whatever. Just." The older twin sighed and threw up his hands. "She just does basic movement. I don't know shit about programming so that's the best I could do. She can move, and- ah, what hold on." Gavin grabbed a rubix cube from his dresser and held it out in front of the android. Eli watched with rapt attention, a visible excitement in his eyes. "Chloe, grab the cube."

It took a few seconds for the android to respond, the small processing circle on her temple spinning at the command. Then she reached out, arm jerky and fingers twitching before closing around the object. When Gavin slowly pulled his hand away, she kept the cube, twisting it over and observing it with bright blue eyes.

"Look at her," Elijah breathed, stepping up to Gavin's side. "She is curious. She is observing and learning and you haven't even programmed her yet. Fascinating." He observed her with a scientists eye before turning his gaze to Gavin, one eyebrow raised. "Chloe?"

The android turned its head towards Elijah and Gavin shrugged. 

"I needed something to call her while figuring out the commands. It was the first name I thought of. You can change it if you want. She's yours."

Elijah shook his head and smiled. 

It was small, gentle. A smile Gavin didn't recognize on his brother's face, but something that warmed his chest nonetheless. "Chloe is perfect."

And Elijah meant it. Because he wouldn't have said it otherwise. He loved that android. And despite what Gavin said, she was both of theirs. They worked on her day in and day out for the rest of the summer. Gavin snuck out to steal parts, and Elijah programmed her with better commands.

It took three months and twelve days for Chloe to finally speak. And another two months before Elijah created the synthetic projection over her casing.  Before he made her look more... human.

"No, she should be blonde," Gavin grumbled from his bed. He was busy fixing Chloe's arm after Elijah had decided to test her strength and cracked the outer lining of her casing. Elijah sat in front of Chloe with his laptop, flickering through different hair styles and colours. 

He hummed and tilted his head at her. "You don't think black would suit her?"

"Nah, she'd look like our mom or something. That'd be weird. Just do blonde. It'd go with her eyes," Gavin suggested.

After a few moments, Elijah grunted and turned his computer to face the android. Gavin watched as the hologram on the computer activated, displaying the different options for all of them to see. 

"Chloe," Eli called, and the android turned her head towards him smoothly. (Gavin had managed with Eli's help to smooth out her movements.) "Why don't you choose a hair color? And don't choose what you think we want. Pick for yourself. What is your preference?"

By now, Gavin was leaning forward on his knees, watching curiously. 

Chloe frowned, head tilting. "My preference?"

"Yes," he nodded. "What colour do you like best? You may choose style as well if you like."

The LED on her temple cycled yellow to show her processing the command and she raised a hand, flickering through the options with a small crinkle of the eyebrow that she no doubt learned from Elijah.

It was amazing, Gavin decided, how easily she adapted now that she had Elijah's programming in her. She still wasn't perfect. It was obvious she wasn't human, but she wasn't quite just a machine either. She had her own little ticks, most of which she'd picked up from one of the twins. And she had started learning sarcasm from Gavin, though her jokes were often flat and the delivery left much to be desired. But she was learning. She was growing. And Gavin couldn't help but wonder if this is what a parent felt when their kid grew up. A good parent at least. How his mom might have felt if she saw what they'd accomplished. He wondered if she'd be proud of them. If she would gush over Chloe like a proud science project or a daughter of her own.

"Told you," Gavin smirked as Chloe decided upon a blonde style, gentle curls twisting over one shoulder and framing her face perfectly. 

When Eli led her to the mirror, something in her changed. They both saw it, saw the blinding smile spread across her lips as she saw herself for the first time. And she was beautiful. Absolutely and utterly beautiful. In the way a flower was when it fully bloomed under a gentle spring rain. In the way a baby was when it first giggled at its parents smiling faces. Utterly breath taking. 

"Perfect," Elijah breathed as Chloe turned her smile on them. Something lodged in Gavin's throat at her innocence. Something dangerous. Something protective. Like he could never stand to see her sad. See her hurt. Like he'd give his life to keep that smile on her face.

To keep her that perfect.

Chloe continued to smile. Continued to grow and learn. She began to laugh when Gavin was sarcastic. Giggling quietly when the twins bickered over the smallest things. 

But nothing perfect ever lasted. It couldn't. Not in a house where pain hid in the shadows.

Its how Chloe began to grow protective. When Elijah would be in class and the yelling started. When Gavin came back into his room with bruises on his cheeks and his throat and his arms. She would fawn over him, demand answers that he couldn't give. Then she'd help him clean up before Eli came home. She'd keep silent when Gavin told a worried Eli that he'd fallen down the stairs again or smacked himself with some tool in the garage. 

His twin never questioned him, even though Gavin could tell he knew the truth. Or part of it at least.

Elijah was fascinated when she first showed anger. When she closed her hand around that old rubix cube and threw it against the wall when Gavin ordered her not to leave their room, even if she heard their father yelling.

"He hurts you!"

Gavin sighed and rubbed a hand over tired eyes. Elijah was sitting silently on his bed, watching them argue with a curious look.

"Chloe its- its nothing, I promise. I just- its no big deal," he tried, tugging harshly at his hair. God he hated talking about it because it made him sound weak. Made him sound like he just let it happen for no reason. When there was a reason. There was. He just- he couldn't tell them.

"It's not nothing! Its- its- its- its-"

Gavin spun around quickly as she stuttered and Elijah was on his feet immediately. The LED on the Android's temple was a burning red and Gavin's heart lurched in his throat. Throbbing with worry.

"What is it, what's wrong with her?"

That's when they discovered that with the happiness and the pride and the anger, also came stress and fear. Chloe was scared. 

God he never thought that would be an issue in his life. His robot was scared. For him.

Its how they found out that she had limits. That if her stress got too high, her system would shut down. The body and mainframe that Gavin had built her with wasn't strong enough for the emotions and personality that Elijah pumped into her. And it was the anger that started it. The fear.

She started to deteriorate fast after that. Anything stressful would send her into the computer version of a panic attack. She started having trouble communicating. Trouble remembering things. She bounced back and forth between staring off into space and staring directly at them.

Gavin had a grandma once, when he was a kid. When she got too old they had to put her in a home. It was a lot like that, he supposed. Like dementia or Alzheimer's. 

Eventually Elijah managed to patch enough issues that the deterioration stopped. But the damage was done. He couldn't seem to fix it, not without just starting from scratch, which they refused to do.

Elijah never asked what their dad did to Gavin. He didn't really need to, not really. They could all hear the screaming when Gavin fought back, when their dad threw things. But Gavin was careful. He was careful not to let his brother know how deep it really was, how bad it got at night. When he left his room so that their father wouldn't come for Elijah.

"Beautiful," his father would call him as Gavin lay there and let him do what he wanted. "The both of you. Absolutely lovely, like flowers. My gorgeous boys, flowers that will never wither."

He supposed thats what made Chloe snap.

She followed her orders, the orders Gavin,gave her to always protect Elijah no matter what Gavin might be going through.

But she didn't know about the nighttime activities either. 

She screamed like he'd never heard her scream before, fingers tight and bruising around his father's throat. It'd taken both twins to pry her off of him, leaving the old man just barely breathing.

After that they couldn't stay. They had no choice.

So they moved in with Amanda, one of Elijah's mentors at camp. And the rest, he supposed, was a history neither of them spoke of. 

It wasn't gone of course. They both suffered their nightmares, their anxieties and trauma. But... It'd been easy with Amanda to slip into a healthier family role. A safer place to stay. 

And Chloe never laid her hands on a human again.


End file.
